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Uni Stage 2 Initial Impression

Cesco_93

Passed Driver's Ed
Location
El Paso, TX; West Chester, PA
Car(s)
2015 GTI S M/T
Today I flashed my car from stock to Unitronic Stage 2 for the first time. I put about 20 miles on it and then decided to re-flash to Stage 2 w/Crackle. Also, I am running on 91 octane because that is all we have here within hundreds of miles. Unitronic customer service said my engine should adapt to it after about 50 miles, so we will see. My initial thoughts after about 30 miles:

Pros:
-My CEL (due to aftermarket DP) is finally and will hopefully stay gone.
-Crackle is enjoyable.
-Don't see any reason why I need to upgrade my clutch, yet.
-Super easy to flash from home

Cons:
-Not seeing much of a difference in power

Overall, I think the DP which I have had for about 5-10k miles is the greatest contributor for the tune and since I have had it for so long I am not able to notice a result of the software in terms of power. The DP by itself still stands as my favorite mod on this car. Without the tune, my power, sound, and fuel efficiency all improved as a result of putting in the Aftermarket DP.

I absolutely plan on posting a follow up in this thread in the future. Love to hear everyone's thoughts. Lastly, I do want to mention that Unitronic's customer service has been great as far as answering all of my questions thus far.
 
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EpicTech

Autocross Champion
Location
Houston
Car(s)
MK7 GTI 6sp w/PP
I am also uni stage 2, went 10k on stock clutch before upgrading. Power difference was night and day with uni dp, exhaust and intake. Added ACT clutch, now my only problem is traction.
 

Cesco_93

Passed Driver's Ed
Location
El Paso, TX; West Chester, PA
Car(s)
2015 GTI S M/T
I would say not loud, but a little bit obnoxious especially if driving in stop and go traffic. The flash from stage 2 to stage 2 w/crackle took approx 2 minutes so it may be worth the try.

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Martin398

Ready to race!
Location
MA
something is off if you're not noticing a significant power jump from stock to stage 2, IMO. it's a night and day difference.

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CaptainRatty

Autocross Champion
Location
Winston-Salem, NC
Car(s)
MK7 GTI
Go get on a highway and punch it from 60MPH and run out 4th and most of 5th. That’s where the difference is in stage 2.
 

swcrow

Autocross Champion
Location
Virginia
Car(s)
7.5 GTI
Today I flashed my car from stock to Unitronic Stage 2

Cons:

-Not seeing much of a difference in power

I'm sorry, but you have something wrong with your car, if you went from stock to stage 2 and notice no difference in power.. it's beyond night and day
 

tigeo

Autocross Champion
Huh? It's adding over 100hp/~60% increase in power. Something isn't right if you don't notice that.
 

2013R

Drag Race Newbie
.. he already had more than half of that gain with the un-tuned downpipe alone.. that is why he didn't notice a huge gain like he was going stage 2 for the first time ..
 

Martin398

Ready to race!
Location
MA
+127HP & +112LB-FT over stock per Unitronic's website. Impossible not to notice that jump in power and torque.

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Martin398

Ready to race!
Location
MA
.. he already had more than half of that gain with the un-tuned downpipe alone.. that is why he didn't notice a huge gain like he was going stage 2 for the first time ..
could you provide proof that a downpipe alone with net +60HP with no tune? curious for my own information...

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2013R

Drag Race Newbie
could you provide proof that a downpipe alone with net +60HP with no tune? curious for my own information...

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no.. but the majority of the gain with a stage 2 is the downpipe removing the factory front cat which is most of the restriction. plenty of people run a downpipe with no tune for a while. i wouldnt say 60, but id say 20-30 easy.
 

tigeo

Autocross Champion
.. he already had more than half of that gain with the un-tuned downpipe alone.. that is why he didn't notice a huge gain like he was going stage 2 for the first time ..

No way - he may have had a little extra at stock tune and a DP but not much. Now, I was thinking he may have not typed the OP correctly and was Stage 1 with a DP and then moved to Stage 2. In that case, you will get effectively zero gain - you just get the removal of the CEL.
 

2013R

Drag Race Newbie
No way - he may have had a little extra at stock tune and a DP but not much. Now, I was thinking he may have not typed the OP correctly and was Stage 1 with a DP and then moved to Stage 2. In that case, you will get effectively zero gain - you just get the removal of the CEL.

ohhhh good point. I was kinda referring to a stage 1 with downpipe as you suspected.. but no tune whatsoever.. and super low boost? ya it should have been huge then. but uni does take a while to adjust up, and keep in mind its one of the milder tunes for sure. i have had 4 VW's with APR and 3 with Unitronic. I think I will give Cobb a try sometime in the future also.
 
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